Integrative Science Improving Societies
VORTEX develops science, algorithms, and Artificial Intelligence for understanding social complexity and confronting global networks of crime and corruption.
Established in 2011 in Colombia, the Vortex Foundation began developing innovative protocols and algorithms to analyze networks of massive victimization in the region. Over the next decade, these tools evolved and were successfully applied across Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe, addressing some of the world’s most complex challenges in criminal network analysis.
Since 2019, SciVortex Corporation, based in the United States, has expanded this mission globally through non-profit projects and commercializing its flagship platform, VORISOMA.
Vortex has partnered with judicial analysts, prosecutors, law enforcement agents, judges, and academics in Central and South America, Eastern Europe, and Africa. Together, they have unraveled intricate networks of trafficking, corruption, and systemic human rights violations, visualizing these dynamics through tools like the Criminal Aura Graph.
With a multidisciplinary team of researchers, technologists, and practitioners, Vortex is dedicated to advancing concepts, methodologies, and algorithms to better understand global networks of crime and corruption. The organization remains steadfast in its commitment to justice, human rights, and government accountability, allocating all its resources to these critical goals.
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1. The world is a complex and interconnected system where distinctions like “hard” vs. “soft” issues, social vs. individual phenomena, and rational vs. emotional problems are not fixed. These elements interact dynamically, influencing one another through intricate causal relationships.
2. The interplay between social-digital and natural-analog phenomena creates a “vortex” of interactions that offers valuable opportunities for analysis. This vortex represents the fusion of human behavior, technology, and natural systems, enabling deeper insights into the complexities of modern challenges.
3. Scientists have a critical role in translating their findings into actionable knowledge. By effectively communicating their discoveries to society, policymakers, and decision-makers, they help bridge the gap between theoretical understanding and practical solutions to pressing global issues.
4. A scientific vortex emerges when diverse areas of human knowledge—ranging from the natural sciences to the humanities—converge through rigorous methods and shared insights. This integration not only advances scientific understanding but also reinforces the humanistic values that guide ethical and meaningful progress.
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1. Institutions, whether formal or informal, are emergent phenomena that cannot be fully understood by analyzing their individual components. We study their origins, regulation, and consolidation as collective behavioral patterns, ranging from cultural traditions to state structures, to uncover the mechanisms that sustain and transform societies.
2. Society and Global Crime: While each society faces unique criminal challenges, certain types of crime—such as corruption, human trafficking, and transnational organized crime—are global in nature. Addressing these requires a comprehensive understanding of their interconnected structures and the ways they transcend borders, impacting societies worldwide.
3. Brains, Minds, and AI: Understanding human nature requires exploring the interaction between minds and brains, especially how they create and interpret epistemological realities. Central to this exploration are questions about consciousness, including the “hard problem,” and the implications of Artificial Intelligence for understanding and replicating cognitive processes.
